Steve Kerr dishes on Yaxel Lendeborgs eye-opening impact: Extremely rare

DENVER — In his first four games, Yaxel Lendeborg has already gone head-to-head against Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic.How’s that for a welcome to the NBA?The way the 24-year-old rookie has responded to the test, the more pertinent question might be: How’s that for an introduction to Yaxel Lendeborg? And maybe another: How much better can this dude get? After Lendeborg’s most impressive showing yet, leading the Warriors to their first road win over Jokic and the Nuggets since 2022, Draymond Green offered an answer: Eons.“I don’t care what age you are, it’s the NBA.

If you don’t know the NBA game, you’re already at a deficit.He don’t know the game,” Green said.

“Not that he don’t know the game of basketball — he don’t know the NBA.And to be able to have the ability to go out there and still do that, not knowing what the NBA really, truly brings on a nightly basis is special. “It’s no different than what I’ve been saying for weeks now.

I think he’s a special player.”In other words, Lendeborg still has lots of room to grow, especially considering the fact that he only started playing the sport seriously after high school.Now, think about that and take a look at his stat line from the Warriors’ 134-114 win — his fourth career game: 31 points, 12 rebounds, six assists.

Plus-27 in 31 minutes.“Basically, at all the critical moments of the game, we just put the ball in his hands,” coach Steve Kerr said.“For a rookie to be that advanced already, it’s extremely rare.

But it’s exciting because I think he’s gonna get a lot better, too.”Two rookies in Warriors history have ever had a game like Lendeborg’s: Rick Barry and Wilt Chamberlain.Pretty good company.

Tally it up with his first three games and it gets even better.In the lottery era, only four rookies in the entire NBA have ever totaled 85 points and 35 rebounds in their first four games, according to OptaStats research: Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Shaquil...